The present invention relates generally to modular air conditioning systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to an air conditioning system that is formed to include an outdoor unit and at least one indoor unit, wherein the units are interconnected using a hose that is user serviceable and modular in a manner that allows reconfiguration and user serviceability as was previously unknown in the art.
In the prior art there is a wide variety of devices available for cooling desired locations such as a room in a home. In the most general terms, these cooling devices draw heat from the room into a coolant working fluid. Once the fluid has absorbed the heat, it is then routed to a location that is remote from the room so that the heat absorbed into the fluid can be discharged from the fluid into the remote location, typically outdoors. Such cooling devices, also known as room air conditioners, may be categorized as window air conditioners, where the unit resides in a window with the cooling unit on the interior and the heat discharge unit on the outside, split air conditioners, where the location of unit containing the air cooling unit and the heat discharging outdoor unit are separated from one another or unitary air conditioners, wherein the air cooling unit and the heat discharging outdoor unit are fixed relative to one another within a single housing.
One of the difficulties encountered with prior art window air conditioners and unitary air conditioners is noise. Since the entire unit is contained within a single housing the fans, pumps and fluid compressors are all positioned in a concentrated, self contained unit. As a result, such units are typically noisy to operate. Further, since the heat absorbing and heat discharging units are both positioned in the same housing, accommodations need to be made with respect to positioning of the units so that they do not operate as a closed loop within the room to be cooled. This is done in the case of a window air conditioner by placing it in a window with the cooling portion on the interior and the heat discharge portion at the exterior, creating the additional problem of blocking a window. Similarly, freestanding unitary devices must be positioned so that an air discharge duct leads to the exterior of the room and allows heat to be discharged via the duct.
In contrast to unitary air conditioners, split air conditioners provide for the interior cooling portion and the heat discharge assembly to be separated from one another in order to overcome some of the above noted issues. In split air conditioning systems, the noisiest portion of the air conditioning system is placed outdoors in a location that is remote from the room to be cooled. One type of split air conditioner is a saddle mount air conditioner. A saddle mount air conditioner typically includes a low profile service channel disposed between an indoor, air cooling unit and an outdoor, heat discharging unit to permit air, condensate water, coolant, and electricity to pass between each unit. The service channel may be placed on the sill of a window so that the indoor unit and the outdoor unit straddle the sill such that they are significantly below the horizontal level of the sill. Other larger split units require that, after installation of the interior and exterior units, connective piping be installed and charged with refrigerant. Such installations require professional technicians to complete and charge the refrigerant piping, thereby greatly increasing the cost of the installation.
Even larger air conditioning systems employ large chiller or cooling tower devices that serve to cool a working fluid at an exterior location. The working fluid is then distributed to a heat exchanger to cool a secondary cooling loop or directly through a large piping network wherein flow is controlled to multiple zones to provide selective cooling at the end location. Such systems provide multiple zone control but require the permanent installation of a large and complex arrangement of pipes and automatic control valves.
In any of the above noted installations, there is very little an end user can do to service or reconfigure the air conditioning system. While a user may install and remove a window mount or unitary air conditioner, the problem of noise within the space exists. When opting for a split or chiller based system the user must make due with the system as installed because of the large network of piping or the fact that the refrigerant lines contain high pressure refrigerant which must be handled by a licensed installer.
Still another difficulty with these prior types of installations is that they lack significant control over the directionality of the cooling. While such devices have vanes or fins to direct the cooled air to some degree, the cooling is still limited to a region that surrounds the device. Since the installation of the device is generally fixed, either because the unit sits in a window or the interior portion of a split system is permanently affixed to a wall, redirection of the cooling effect is nearly impossible. In addition, such systems are generally paired in a manner that provides a single cooling coil (evaporator) with a single heat dissipation coil (condenser) thereby eliminating the possibility of modularity or the addition of extra evaporators in connection with a single condenser and compressor.
In view of the above-described shortcomings associated with traditional style window and split system air conditioners, there is a need for a modular air conditioner that operates on the basic principal of a split system yet allows user serviceability and modular components such that the system is flexible. There is a further need for a modular air conditioning system that includes at least one indoor cooling unit that has an integrated cold store therein such that the temperature of the cold store is maintained by a circulating coolant fluid through hose connections with an outdoor heat dissipation unit.